Beautiful Necklace
by Kumori sensei
Summary: Erza is upset and Natsu wants to cheer her up. Natza. I own nothing.


Beautiful Necklace

Team Natsu had just finished a mission and Erza had run off somewhere. She said she "had to look into something" and then was gone. The rest of the team was camped out in the inn for the night and didn't have the faintest idea of what she could be doing right now. They wondered what she needed to look into when they had already completed the mission. In the end, they just shrugged it off and assumed something about the mission had bothered her and she just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong before they left. After all, they would be heading home tomorrow.

Despite not having been told where Erza had went, it took one look at her when she returned for Natsu to figure it out. The eyes that failed to suppress her sadness told him everything. Though he didn't know where she had been, he knew she was with Jellal. That was the only man who could put such an expression on her face. Natsu frowned in annoyance, irritated with Jellal for making her feel this way.

Black eyes darted around the room in thought. He wanted to make her feel better but wasn't sure how. It didn't take long for Happy to notice his buddy's change in mood and he flew over to him and asked what was wrong. Natsu gave the blue exceed a serious look and leaned in as if to tell him a secret. Happy came closer and listened to the pink haired dragon slayer tell him about his concern for Erza.

"She's upset about Jellal?" Happy sounded surprised. "How can you tell?"

"Huh? What do you mean? It's written all over her face!" Natsu said as though it should be obvious. "Anyway, got any ideas little buddy?"

"Um... How about you give her some fish!" Happy exclaimed excitedly.

"Sh! Not so loud or we'll be found out!" Natsu whispered in a rush.

"Oh, sorr-" Happy began.

"Find out about what?" Lucy asked innocently.

Both Happy and Natsu shrieked and nearly jumped out of their skin. Almost immediately afterward they covered their mouths in horror. Everyone except Erza, who had already retired to her room without saying a word to her friends, gave the two a weird look. Lucy sighed at the pair who were completely inept at hiding their mischievousness.

However Natsu quickly gave some lame excuse and ran off with Happy. Lucy wanted to stop them but they were too quick for her. She sighed in defeat and turned to the others, who just looked confused. Gray shrugged it off in a heartbeat but Wendy looked concerned. Even Carla was a little concerned but quickly got over it, assuming Natsu and Happy were only up to no good. As long as it didn't affect her or Wendy she didn't really care.

In the meantime, the duo was catching their breath in the middle of town with a few people giving them curious looks as they passed by. After they confirmed no one had followed them, Natsu and Happy high fived in triumph. Then the fire dragon slayer stretched his arms and placed them behind his head. With one of his trademark grins, he walked through town with Happy and planned out what they would do to cheer Erza up.

Not one to disappoint, in effort or thoughtfulness anyway, the two returned home early the next morning to go through with their plan. They scaled the wall, because using the front door was too easy, and snuck into her room. Exceed and mage spotted Erza sleeping soundly on her bed and creeped up to her. They grinned at each other and gave a countdown from three.

"ERZA, WAKE UP!" Natsu then jumped on her bed while Happy flew in circles overhead.

"What?! Where's the enemy?!" Erza jerked forward only to see the two staring down at her. "Natsu? Happy? What are you doing here?"

"I bought you fish!" Happy said and offered it to her but didn't answer her question.

"It's the best quality too!" Natsu added.

"Aye!" Happy agreed. "...I kind of want it."

After giving the fish one last mournful look he handed it to Erza resolutely. The redhead was confused and looked between the two, who were staring at her expectantly. There was only one time Happy gave up his fish though so in a way he did answer her question. It was obvious they had seen she was upset and were trying to cheer her up.

Erza smiled at the two and decided to overlook the fact that they came into her room without permission and gave them a crushing hug. The two made a pained sound as they were crushed to her breasts but grinned at each other nonetheless. Then the fire eating mage pulled back as he suddenly remembered something and pulled something out of his pocket and handed it over to Erza with a giddy smile.

"Huh? What's this?" Erza stared at the wrapped package in wonder.

"Open it! Open it!" Natsu said barely containing his excitement.

"Natsu spent all night making that!" Happy told her.

"Making...?" Erza mumbled.

The requip mage gave into her curiosity and opened the small box which he must have bought before coming here and softly gasped at what laid inside. Erza slowly took the dazzling object out of the box and held it delicately in her hands. She looked between the amber green necklace and Natsu in shock. Then she finally noticed the state of his hands and gasped again.

She dropped the beautiful necklace and replaced it with the dragon slayer's hands, her expression becoming one of worry. They were cut up and scorched with burn marks. She didn't understand how this could happen, fire couldn't hurt Natsu! The pink haired mage gave Erza a perplexed face before understanding when the redhead asked how this happened.

"Huh? What do you mean? I burned them." Natsu said as though it should be obvious.

"But..." Erza frowned.

"Any type of fire can hurt Natsu unless he eats it." Happy explained since he knew what was bothering Erza.

"Then how did you get them?" Erza asked before realizing it was a stupid question.

"While making the necklace!" Natsu grinned cheerfully at her.

"You fool! Why would you do this to yourself over a necklace?" Erza snapped.

"To see you smile again." Natsu said.

Words failed to leave Erza's lips when she heard that. Despite wanting to scold Natsu further, he didn't need to injure himself to make her feel better, the scarlet mage couldn't bring herself to do so. It was a sweet gesture and entirely for her so she didn't have it in her to complain. Erza sighed in defeat and smiled at the two due to Natsu's response. Then she wrapped them in another embrace or she would have if Happy hadn't flown out of her reach. He didn't want to lose the ability to breathe though Natsu didn't seem to mind.

It was a brief hug and the redhead was quickly on her feet. Natsu and Happy stared at her in confusion. She left the room telling them she would be right back. The room was quiet for a moment until the two started guessing at what she could be doing. Happy thought she might be making him fish to which Natsu drooled and commented that he hoped she would bring him back some fire to eat. It was neither they realized as Erza returned to the room with medical supplies for Natsu's hands.

As she set to work on them, Natsu and Happy's stomachs growled. The strawberry shortcake loving mage gave them both a raised eyebrow. At that moment Natsu asked if she would requip into her Fire Empress Armor and make him some fire to eat. Erza became irritated with him and was about to go into a rant about not wasting magical energy like that before noticing the dragon slayer looked a little pale. It was the exceed that explained to her that he was low on magical power.

After giving in "just this once", Erza did what Natsu asked and replenished his magic power. Then she went back to work on his hands, while Happy and Natsu told them about how he made the necklace-Erza demanded an explanation as to why Natsu was so low on magic power he could have passed out. The fire dragon slayer and blue exceed told her about how the gem they managed to get was too big so they had to find a way to make it smaller and then in turn needed to be able to make a pretty shape out of it, which is where Natsu's magic came up, and they heated it up enough to change the shape and insert the metal piece that kept it attached to the string necklace.

It made Erza want to hit them and hug them at the same time. She settled for shaking her head with a sigh. The redhead looked at the necklace on her bed and picked it up to inspect again, now finished with Natsu's hands. Upon closer inspection, she can see that it was handmade and not professionally. She even thinks she can see a few tiny scorch marks on it. Erza was surprised when Natsu snatched it with an excited "here" before he slipped it around her neck and pushed her hair out behind it.

The redhead's eyes widened in surprise before they settled into a soft smile. She hugged the dragon slayer again and quietly whispered a thank you into his ear. Oblivious to the affection in Erza's voice, he grinned at seeing her happy again. Happy covered his mouth with his paw. He giggled and grinned childishly.

"Natsu and Erza sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G _..."_ Happy sang.

"Happy..." Erza said in a warning tone.

Natsu grinned at his little friend but as Happy continued on headless to Erza's mood the two quickly became aware of the threatening aura that surrounded her. The pink haired mage noticed first from how she tensed up. It made him look up at her and saw the angry expression she made. He paled in fear and froze in place. Unfortunately for the blue exceed, he didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.

The scarlet mage rose to her feet and requiped into her Purgatory Armour. Happy yelped and flew out of there as quick as his wings would carry him. He went right out the window and darted out of sight. Erza yelled at him and rushed to the window, leaning out of it in search of a flying blue cat. Natsu remained seated on her bed and prayed that Happy got away. When Erza turned back gloomily he knew she accepted his escape.

She trudged back to her bed and collapsed on it. Erza had completely forgotten that Natsu was still there. The fire dragon slayer stared at her uncertainly. Then there was a knocking on her door with Lucy and Gray's voice asking what was going on from the other side. It snapped the mopey girl out of her thoughts and she looked over to the closed door. With a small sigh she sent them away, assuring them it was nothing.

Erza looked over at the pink haired boy who was being oddly quiet. He tilted his head at her with a confused face. The requip user smiled at him and closed her eyes as she leaned on him. Natsu jerked in surprise. Scarlet locks splayed over his shoulder as she laid her head there. The dragon slayer blushed a little and stared into his lap somewhat stiffly, silently allowing her to rest on him.

Encouraged by the docility of her friend, she gently pushed Natsu onto his back. The dragon slayer blinked up at her in shock and confusion. The scarlet mage smiled at him with adoration in her eyes and slowly leaned in and passionately kissed the young dragon slayer. Natsu was shocked and couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening.

When the redhead pulled away due to him not responding, she saw a lost look on his face and a deep blush. Natsu sputtered incoherently but those eyes had finally showed understanding and they didn't look away. Erza giggled at him and kissed him again, softly this time, and unlike with the first kiss the pink head kissed back. The requip mage pulled away and smiled before she dropped her head onto his chest. She curled up with him and could tell it made the other uncomfortable. The dragon slayer was frozen and didn't know what to do.

"We'll leave as soon as Happy returns." Erza said firmly.

"A-Aye..." Natsu agreed.

"Now then, I'm returning to sleep." Erza said. "Wake me up when he's back."

"Aye." Natsu said weakly.

"Enough of that." Erza said. "There's no reason for you to be so nervous."

"Ay... uh..." Natsu mumbled.

The pink haired mage would beg to differ. He couldn't begin to name all the reasons he had for being nervous. The fire eater wasn't in a mind where communication was possible though so he was left stuttering instead. Natsu's heart expressed his denial with its insistent pounding and Erza heard it perfectly. She smiled amusedly at the dragon slayer, whose face was now the shade of Erza's hair, and decided to let it go.

She looked up at her pinked haired partner and pecked him on the cheek. Then she snuggled up to him while he was a dazed, twitching mess. His heart skipped a beat from the small affection and hammered painfully against his chest. Erza heard how his heart had picked up after she put her head back down and that such a small action affected him this much made her very happy.

It took Natsu a while to calm down enough to understand what was happening and when he did it did nothing for his nerves. Still, he wasn't complaining. He was actually grinning like an idiot. A blushing one mind you but an idiot all the same. The fire breathing boy hesitantly settled his arm around Erza's waist and pulled her closer. He didn't know what he was doing but he liked having her close. She was warm and the closeness made his stomach flutter pleasantly.

"I never thought I would say this but," Natsu murmured, "I don't want to see Happy any time soon."

Erza chuckled at the boy but admitted that she too hoped he would take a while to make his way back. She slid her fingers through the other boy's hand and gently squeezed. It surprised Natsu but it didn't make him unhappy and he responded in kind. The scarlet mage fell asleep to the sound of erratic, uneven heart beats with a smile upon her face. On the other hand, even though he was exhausted, Natsu couldn't get a wink of sleep. He was left to wait for Happy to return and would only get any sleep when he got knocked out on the train ride home by Erza.


End file.
